


let me hold you

by lilija_the_red



Category: S.C.I.谜案集 | S.C.I. Mystery (TV)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fill, Whump, concussion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-06
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-24 11:56:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21337846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilija_the_red/pseuds/lilija_the_red
Summary: Zhan Yao looks out for Bai Yutong
Relationships: Bai Yutong/Zhan Yao
Comments: 4
Kudos: 134
Collections: OneShots1





	let me hold you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pheral](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pheral/gifts).

> cute lil prompt fill for sci

“I'm fine.” Bai Yutong repeats weakly, letting out a groan. He's on the ground, holding his head in his hands. His face is contorted with pain, his breathing goes heavily. _There's blood on his hands. _The thought shoots through Zhan Yao’s head, his jaw tightens on the sight of the redness.  
“I'm fine, I'm fine-“, Bai Yutong mumbles again, eyes still shut.

Zhan Yao doesn't believe him for one second.

Not when he says, he's fine, while being hunched over on the ground like this, hand holding his head.  
Not when he repeats it, body shaking with every syllable, due to the strain even talking puts on him.  
Not when he tries to get up, just to fall down again, body seemingly not following his orders.  
Not even when he eventually gets up, wobbly and shaky, just to trip over his own feet and stumble forward in the progress.

This time Zhan Yao is there, keeping him from tumbling further and to the ground.

He throws his hands forward, meeting Bai Yutong's chest halfway, keeping him up. His muscles strain under the unused weight, but he doesn't back down. With a quick motion, he rearranges his hands; keeping one on the chest and letting the other grip onto Bai Yutong's biceps, hoping to gain more control over him. He leans heavily against him, as if Zhan Yao is the only thing keeping him upright at this very moment.

Which is probably true, he realizes.

And Bai Yutong is close. Too close.

So close he can feel his muscles move underneath the thin shirt, can feel Bai Yutong’s warmth hot underneath his hands, his energy surrounding him...  
  


“Bai Yutong?” His voice is of a grotesque calmness, even to his own ears. Showing no sign of the whirlpool of emotion swirling within Zhan Yao. He's quiet grateful for that ability of his, no matter how irritating it may be.

“Bai Yutong”, he tries again, as the man in his arms, doesn't react. “Look at me.”  
  


He's trying to catch a glimpse of Bai Yutong’s face. Trying to get him to meet his eyes, so he can assess the situation better. Correctly. And to decide on further procedure.

So, he repeats himself putting some more force into his voice. “Look at me, Bai Yutong.”

And Bai Yutong follows.  
  


His eyes are glazed over, as they meet Zhan Yao’s.

_On the bridge of unfocused_, he thinks. _But open, anyway_.

He allows himself to feel the bit of relief, that wants to take over him, lets it cloud his concentration for a mere second.  
  


“Okay”, Zhan Yao continues, snapping back into focus. “Do you hurt? Anywhere?”  
  


Bai Yutong leans heavy against him, causing Zhan Yao to struggle keeping him upright. He can feel the strain in his own muscles, the tension within him. The worry, a solid coldness spreading in his stomach towards his chest. But he can't waste his attention on this right now. He has to stay focused, so he forces himself to ignore it all, only looking out for Bai Yutong right now.  
  


“Does anything hurt, Bai Yutong?” He asks once more, hands still grabbing tightly onto Bai Yutong.  
  


“Yep.”  
  


“Where?”  
  


Bai Yutong half heartly gestures over his body, swaying a bit in Zhan Yao's grip and in answer leans deeper into his arms.

“Kind of everywhere?”  
  


_Great, just great,_ Zhan Yao thinks. His mind is running down an imaginary list of possible medical situations and the correct response.  
  


“Especially my head”, Bai Yutong mumbles into the crook of Zhan Yao’s neck. The air tickling his skin, sending a warm shiver down his spine.

“I think my head?” Bai Yutong adds weakly.  
  


Zhan Yao swallows hard, fighting hard to keep from shaking away the shiver taking over his body.  
  


“I thought so”, he adds, not trying to keep out the dry humour from his voice. “You've hit it rather thoroughly earlier.”  
  


_A concussion, probably_, Zhan Yao thinks, moving his head back to see more of Bai Yutong's face.  
  


A few little cuts on his forehead, some bruises forming at his arms. What's hidden underneath the shirt and pants, Zhan Yao could only guess...  
But there are no big bleeding wounds, which would require his attention first, so he'll concentrate on the head, first.  
  


“Ah, that explains that”, Bai Yutong sighs at Zhan Yao's words, letting his eyes fall shut once more.

  
“Ey!” Zhan Yao quips. “Don't fall asleep on me!” A quick rattle at his shoulder and Bai Yutong's eyes are snapping back open, confused look and all.  
  


“I just wanted to close them for a second. The pounding in my head is horrible!”  
  


“No.” Zhan Yao barks out at Bai Yutong's whining. “You probably have a concussion. Before we've got you checked, sleeping is too dangerous!”  
  


Bai Yutong looks up at him, eyes blinking rapidly, as if trying to gain back focus – or if to make sense out of his words.  
  


Zhan Yao continues, voice still annoyed, but softer than before. “You know that. Come on.”  
  


Zhan Yao dives his head underneath Bai Yutong's arm, pulling it over his own shoulder. His muscles ache under the shift of weight, but he ignores it, holding closer onto his hand thrown over his own shoulder. Bai Yutong slots against him, leaving no space for air between them and it takes him a second to steady the both of them. All while violently ignoring how close Bai Yutong leans against him, even closer than before.

  
“Talk to me.” Zhan Yao demands, while his eyes search the room for an exit. As much in order to try keeping Bai Yutong awake with the prompt, as it is to distract himself from what's right there underneath his fingertips and what it does to his calm demeanour. And to distract him from the thought of what he had almost lost tonight. Whom he could have lost.

Zhan Yao stills for a second.

_Still could lose_, he thinks.

He glances over, relieved as he sees Bai Yutong's eyes still open.  
  


“What should I talk about, mh?” Bai Yutong’s grin is weak but it’s there and right now that’s enough.

  
Zhan Yao lets his eyes wander through the room, trying to decide on which door they had to take to get out of this godforsaken house.  
  


“Maybe how you would get us out.”  
  


That at least gains him a soft laugh. “Really? You are the brain! Your words! I bet you remember the whole blue print!”  
  


Zhan Yao allows himself a small smile. Bai Yutong is not wrong. But still.

“But what if not? Maybe I didn't pay attention?”

Another weak laugh escapes Bai Yutong and shakes his body. Somehow, he weighs even heavier in Zhan Yao's arms.  
  


“Maybe you didn't.” A weird sound of sadness, almost, swings with his words, that Zhan Yao can't quiet place. But there were more important things at hand right now.  
  


“Lets go”, Zhan Yao tightens his grip on Bai Yutong, finally having decided on a door and pulls him along with him as they make their way through the labyrinth of the basement, they've been caught in. It doesn't take too long. He remembers the way through the halls.  
  


While they walk, he makes Bai Yutong talk, probing for easy answers to frivolous things he has already forgotten by the time they make it out.

* * *

He would have thought with every step towards outside he would feel lighter, more relaxed. But in reality, he grows even more worried. With every instance of Bai Yutong taking a beat too long to answer, his stomach revolts. Mind flushing with all the things that could go wrong, possible medical complications Bai Yutong may enter, if they didn't get him checked out soon.  
  


He can barely recall how they got out or how they found the others and got to the hospital. Now, hours later, he finally stands in front of his apartment. He's got his arm around Bai Yutong, still not trusting the other man's capability of staying on his own two feet. Despite him acting much more awake, his face now being more flushed instead of white like it did earlier. Despite that, he still can’t bring himself to let go off him. He had ignored Bai Yutong's teasing about it, his insisting on helping him. An on taking Bai Yutong to his own place tonight.

“The doctors said, you shouldn't be on your own tonight. It's either this or the hospital. Besides, you still have some clothes at my place. I really don't get your fuzz about it.”

It's just logic. Yet somehow it sounded off – even to his own ears. He blames it on the stressful night they’ve had so far.

And then there was Bai Yutong staring at him, sitting on a hospital chair, bandages all over him. Every blotch of white on Bai Yutong’s skin was making Zhan Yao feel uneasy in his stomach. Bai Yutong's eyes were wide and blinking slowly up at him and Zhan Yao didn't know why his chest tightened from one moment to another. All he knew was that he didn’t want to let go.  
  


And now, only an hour later, they are standing in front of his apartment and the tightness is still there, rooted deep within his chest, making it hard for him to breath freely. His fingertips prickle, where they hold onto Bai Yutong's side, and for the first time tonight, he wonders if he should have gotten himself checked at the hospital as well.  
  
He pushes away the thought and pushes open the door, letting them both in. His arm is slung still firmly around Bai Yutong's side.

“I can take it from here, Zhan Yao”, Bai Yutong begins, moving underneath his grip. “Really.”

His pupils are still blown, eyes still a bit glazed, but not as bad as when he first found him hours ago. But Zhan Yao doesn't want to let go.  
  


“Okay”, Zhan Yao sighs in defeat.

“Eh, Zhan Yao? You need to let go off me. You know. For me to walk?”

Zhan Yao blinks twice, looking down at where he still holds tightly onto Bai Yutong's side.  
  
“Right.”

“Still haven’t let go.”

“Sit down”, Zhan Yao says instead, ignoring Bai Yutong’s protest and pulls him along to the couch. To his surprise Bai Yutong follows reluctantly. Once on the couch, Zhan Yao has no reason to hold onto him anymore and finally lets got off Bai Yutong, once again ignoring the prickling feeling in his fingers.  
  


He lets go off Bai Yutong. Taking back his hands from where he had held him for the past hours, except for the time at the hospital. It feels wrong. Letting go. They sit like this for another moment, neither of them moving. Zhan Yao keeps his hands closely by his side, concentrating hard on not moving out again. Not letting them reach out once more, reclaiming their former places on Bai Yutong.

“Are you hungry?”  
  


Bai Yutong’s eyes land on his face. He’s got a small frown growing, disbelief setting in.  
  


“I doubt you have anything edible in this whole apartment, Zhan Yao.”  
  


“I may have some of the leftover from your last cooking-”, Zhan Yao shrugs, but Bai Yutong wouldn’t let him finish.  
  


“Zhan Yao. That was 4 days ago!”  
  
“So?”

Bai Yutong lets out an exasperated smile, mumbling something about Zhan Yao and dying and food poisoning, but Zhan Yao doesn’t completely catch it, instead he watches as Bai Yutong sinks back into the cushions of the couch, shaking his head in what appears to be disbelief.

_He looks tired_, Zhan Yao thinks.  
  


And there it is again, the tightness fighting itself back into his attention.  
  


“I could order something?”  
  


“Not bad. But I really want to sleep.”

“You should stay awake for at least an hour”, Zhan Yao reminds him, checking his watch for the time.  
  


“Oh?” Another sigh. “Well if that's so, ordering sounds fine.”


End file.
